Andrew Dillon’s sputtering ship is blowing way too much smoke

The Conclave and the process around coming up with a new Pope always captivates the world with millions of people anxiously watching for what colour smoke appears out of the Sistine Chapel’s chimney.

Black represents confusion and no decision, white says they’ve anointed someone.

The fact there has only been black smoke billowing out of the AFL’s Docklands headquarters all week prompted the papal reference on social media by former Brisbane Bears defender and commentator Matthew Campbell.

BANNED: RANKINE COPS FOUR GAMES FOR SLUR

“It’s now taken longer for the AFL to sanction Rankine than it took The Conclave to elect a new Pope. How is that possible?” Campbell tweeted.

Let that sink in for a moment. Pope Leo XIV was selected after two days, Rankine’s suspension took five days.

Even by the AFL’s own standards of making a meal out of things, this is gold star worthy.

They knew on Sunday night that Rankine had used the word “f----t” during the previous evening’s game against Collingwood. He’d admitted it and had even rung the Magpies player involved to apologise.

So that meant it was a short and sharp investigation on Monday given no-one was disputing the facts and all that was required now was a penalty.

The precedents were well known so really the only decision the AFL had to make was to choose either a four or five-week ban.

Then on Tuesday night Eddie McGuire appeared on Footy Classified and declared the league had made a decision, Rankine’s finals campaign was over as they’d handed down a five-week penalty.

On Wednesday the football world waited by their laptops, continually hitting refresh to see if the AFL email confirming Rankine’s penalty had lobbed.

Instead there was only black smoke.

Then we tipped into Thursday when the final round of the season was actually starting and all morning there was only black smoke.

Finally at 3.38pm, white smoke.

Four matches. Somewhere in between Tuesday night and Thursday afternoon, one match had disappeared.

The saga has once again shone a light of indecisiveness on Andrew Dillon’s reign in the top job and also given an insight into the world of negotiated outcomes which the league likes to spin don’t happen.

Adelaide clearly didn’t do as they were told, instead standing their ground against headquarters because they didn’t want their best player ruled out of the finals series.

The Crows have form in clashing with big brother and would have a case to say they deserved to be thrown a bone.

Two years ago there was the goal umpire error which cost Adelaide their season in the final round and this year in Round 4 an umpire howler against the Gold Coast cost them the game.

Normal procedure would have had the penalty handed down quickly and then Adelaide given the opportunity to challenge the decision at the AFL’s disciplinary tribunal.

Instead it’s turned into a PR nightmare for the AFL. They look jittery and weak for clearly bending to the Crows line that a suspension in the finals carries more weight than in home and away matches.

There are so many mixed messages and inconsistencies which has been a constant for Dillon’s regime this year.

Last month West Coast’s Jack Graham was suspended for four matches for a homophobic slur with the league saying the fact he self-reported lessened the penalty.

Last year Gold Coast defender Wil Powell also self-reported but got five matches.

Rankine didn’t self-report yet he only got four. Hmmmmm.

When Dillon finally showed his face on Thursday afternoon, there were a few pre-rehearsed lines which again caused more confusion.

Rankine got a week shaved off the penalty because of “compelling medical reasons”. That was the term used in the league’s statement and Dillon refused to elaborate.

Players have long played the mental health card when dealing with the AFL’s drug policy and now we have the boss playing the medical health card to avoid being clear and transparent.

This drawn-out dog’s breakfast joins the list of AFL horror shows this year. Where do we start?

Willie Rioli threatened a rival player with violence on social media yet was originally cleared by the AFL before they back-pedaled after public outrage and gave him a one-match ban.

The fixture has been a debacle, the umpiring at an all-time low, Laura Kane’s demotion as football boss was an ugly mid-season mess while the AFL Commission is stale and in desperate need of a shake-up only for chairman Richard Goyder to ignore all advice and seek another term.

Popular club CEOs Greg Swann and Tom Harley have been seconded to headquarters and are seen as the saviours.

They need to get busy in a hurry because right now the spluttering AFL ship is blowing way too much black smoke.